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Your child's eating habits won't likely change overnight, but the small steps you take each day can help promote a lifetime of healthy eating.
- Respect your child's appetite, don't force a meal. This will reinforce the struggle over food and will make him/her associate mealtime with frustration. Give him/her the opportunity to independently ask for more.
- Stick to the routine by serving three meals and two snacks at the same time every day.
- Be patient with new foods; the child needs repeated exposure to a new food until it becomes familiar.
- Encourage your child to stay at the table for the mealtime even if he/she refuses it. Preparing for him/her a separate meal after rejecting the first meal will promote picky eating.
- Make it fun by serving his/her least preferred food in different ways, or along with his/her preferred food. For example, serve veggies in a soup or with a dipping sauce or top his/her cereal with fruits.
- Ask for your child's help by letting him/her choose healthy options at the grocery store or encouraging him/her to get involved in food preparation at home.
- Set a good example because your child is more likely to imitate you, so eat what you would like him/her to eat.
- Minimize electronic distractions and let your child focus on eating on a sitting table with the family.
- Don't offer desert as a reward, rather choose designated days for it.1
- Limit snacks. The hungrier children are, the more likely they are to eat whatever meal is put in front of them.
- Serve small portions. The child might be overwhelmed by large portions of foods that are unfamiliar or not his/her favorite.
- Offer new foods at breakfast time. When your child is usually at their hungriest, he/she might warm up to it faster. 2
- Serve drinks only after a main meal because it could affect appetite to food. 3
- Discuss with him/her the benefits of certain food and let him/her make their own choices.4
Dr. Dany Hamod
Pediatric, Neonatologist
